Value-based care and EHRs

Value-based care and EHRs February 9, 2018

The Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) for Health Information Technology (IT) has published a Health IT Playbook that includes pertinent information about value-based care. According to the publication, “Health care payments should encourage improved care delivery and ensure appropriate compensation for patient-centered care — including care coordination, integration, and prevention and wellness.”

The publication goes on to say that “All clinicians, payers, and other players in the health care system must make fundamental changes in their day-to-day operations to improve quality and reduce health care costs.” However, the progress away from fee-for-service and toward value-based care is slow and unsteady.

As of September 2017, a very small percentage of physicians were motivated by value-based care incentives. One of the challenges may be that value-based care is “paperwork heavy.” Independent physicians who use electronic health records (EHRs) in their practice have found a way to reduce their paperwork and streamline their practice’s operations.

EHRs enable an independent physician to provide that quality, value-based care that is so important to the patient as well as to potential financial incentives for the practice. Using the EHR solution to input a patient’s medical data and to coordinate with other physicians and healthcare facilities can help the independent physician spend more time speaking with and listening to the patient during the visit.

As the ONC Heath IT publication states, the value-based care concept means that “doctors and other clinicians can focus on coordinating care to ensure their patients, especially those with chronic conditions, get the right care at the right time — while avoiding medical errors and duplication.” EHRs enable all providers caring for a patient to provide input and to retrieve medical information about that patient, easily and securely, resulting in higher quality care for that patient.

At Elation Health, we are building a powerful technology-driven ecosystem that will become the homebase of every patient’s health, and eventually transform the delivery of healthcare itself. And that’s why our mission is a commitment to strengthen the relationship between patients and physicians, and to enable phenomenal, value-based care for everyone.